1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of pain treatment. In particular, it relates to a method for reducing phantom limb pains, stump pains and stump spasms in amputees, arthritic pains and other pains related to severed or damaged nerve endings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The phenomenon of phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain has been documented for several years, but the cause of the phenomenon has not been adequately explained. According to this phenomenon, an amputee will have a sensation of pain in a limb or extremity despite the fact that the actual limb or extremity has been amputated. Such pains may be persistent and severe and may disrupt the sufferer's sleep. Up to the present, the only effective treatment for such pains has been by the use of pain-killing drugs. Surgical treatment of the nerves in the stump, ultrasound and hot wax treatments, physiotherapy and injections of sclerosing or anesthetic agents have all been tried without success.
According to one theory, the nervous system is normally shielded by a healthy layer of skin from electromagnetic radiation or random electric currents, whether from the sun or other sources both natural and manmade. In the case of an amputee, part of the layer of skin is destroyed and is replaced by scar tissue, and nerve ends are thereby exposed to electromagnetic radiation or random electric currents. The nerve itself may have been severed, leaving it more susceptible to the effects of radiation. A possible effect of radiation impinging on the nerve end is to generate an electrical signal in the nerve which is interpreted by the brain as a pain signal from the amputated limb.
The concept of electromagnetic shielding is well known. A sheet of conductive material placed between points A and B serves to shield point A from changes in an electromagnetic field occuring at B. The same effect is approximated when a grid or network of conductors is substituted for the sheet of conductive material. Such a grid is sometimes referred to as a Faraday cage, particularly when an object is completely surrounded by such grid to shield it from changing electromagnetic fields. For example, a grounded Faraday cage may be used to shield an object from lightning.
Textile materials which are partly woven from metallic fibers are well known for various uses. One reason for including metallic fibers in textiles has been the esthetic appearance of the fabric. Textiles containing metal fibers have also been used to increase the strength and resistance to stretching of the fabric, to provide a heat reflecting fabric for use in protective clothing, or to form an electrically conductive fabric for use in clothing to reduce the build-up of static charges and avoid the dangers created by static discharges through sparking. Various methods are known for manufacturing such textiles. One known method is to weave the textile from a yarn composed of a relatively small quantity of metal filaments, whether continuous or discontinuous, along with the textile fiber.